The director of the largest union of state workers has sent a letter to the executive director of the Massachusetts Retirement board and State Auditor Suzanne Bump asking them to investigate the pension that will be awarded to Thomas D. Manning, the deputy chancellor of Commonwealth Medicine, when he leaves his position June 30.

Advertisement

Manning heads up the nonprofit consulting operation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, or UMMS, which employees 1,800 people, and he has been hired by more than 20 states.

Currently, Manning is one of the state’s highest-paid employees, with a base salary of $433,500.

Last year, he earned a $130,050 bonus and received a $43,350 boost to his retirement plan. The school also reimbursed him $25,396.56 for the cost of leasing a 2009 Chevrolet Impala and $2,160 for an annual membership to the Worcester Club for entertainment purposes.

It’s a compensation package worth more than $634,456.

When Manning retires next month, he’ll be eligible for the state’s highest pension, estimated at $346,800, according to the State Treasurer’s Office. That’s almost $1,000 a day, 365 days a year.

In the letter obtained by Team 5 Investigates, Kevin Preston, state director for the National Association of Government Employees, argues that if Manning is awarded that pension, it will further discredit an already widely criticized system.

Preston argues that since Manning spent a considerable percentage of his time working on projects that are entirely unconnected to Massachusetts and that are entirely funded from non-Massachusetts sources, that both his service and the calculation of his three highest-earning years should be pro-rated to exclude the percentage of his time spent working for clients unrelated to Massachusetts.

“The taxpayers will rightly ask why they should be responsible for perhaps $100,000 or more of added pension costs each year for as long as Mr. Manning lives, for work performed for states like Virginia, Ohio, Texas and Vermont,” Preston writes.

Christopher Thompson, spokesman for Bump was unable to confirm whether or not his boss had received the letter and what she will do about it.

Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the state board of Retirement told Team 5 it has received Preston’s letter and the board will give Manning’s pension the appropriate degree of scrutiny.

Carlisle added that his boss, State Treasurer Steve Grossman believes Manning’s estimated pension is excessive. “This is a pension, not a jackpot,” Grossman said.